"Deep Dive delves into the realm of virtual reality, video game development, and the intricacies of family life. The story follows Peter Banuk, a video game developer trying to balance his career with his family, consisting of a wife and two daughters. As Peter struggles to make ends meet and provide for his loved ones, he encounters a cutting-edge virtual reality technology that offers a promising escape from his everyday struggles. However, a mishap within this virtual world leaves him trapped and separated from his two daughters, leading him on a quest to reunite his family.

Author Ron Walters demonstrates a commendable writing style, infusing the narrative with energy and presenting relatable characters, making for an engaging reading experience. The story begins with a strong foundation, setting up a familiar yet promising premise, but this foundation quickly begins to waver.

The central issue with Deep Dive lies in its inability to break new ground. The concept of someone getting stuck within a virtual reality world is not novel in today's market, and the story fails to introduce unique elements that would breathe fresh life into this well-trodden territory. The author misses an opportunity to explore and expand on the possibilities of virtual reality fully.

What's more, the protagonist, Peter, often feels one-dimensional. While the loss of his two daughters is indeed a devastating experience, the single-minded obsession he exhibits throughout the story becomes repetitive and fails to evoke the reader's empathy. Peter's constant focus on proving the existence of his daughters overshadows other potential aspects of character development, hindering the story's overall depth.

Despite its potential, Deep Dive falls short, offering a rather predictable journey into the world of virtual reality and failing to differentiate itself from similar stories in the genre.

"Deep Dive" by Ron Walters is a thrilling and immersive submersible adventure that plunges readers into the depths of the ocean, where danger and discovery collide. This novel successfully combines elements of suspense, science fiction, and exploration to create an engaging and fast-paced narrative.

One of the standout features of "Deep Dive" is its attention to detail and research. Walters' knowledge of underwater technology and the intricacies of deep-sea exploration shines through in the authenticity of the story. The descriptions of the submersible, the underwater environments, and the technical challenges faced by the characters are both vivid and convincing, adding depth and realism to the narrative.

Peter Banuk is a video game developer. His last project was a bomb so he's been working overtime to make sure that his latest project. It's a Catch-22 that a lot of working professionals face ... Banuk wants to take care of his family - a wife and two daughters - and he wants to do that by working at something he knows well and enjoys. But working at the pace he does means that he is not spending time with the people he loves and wants to provide for.

Things go from bad to worse when Peter's friend and tech partner shows him a new high-tech virtual reality set-up that, if it works as well as his friend says it will, will change the gaming world. Peter is given the chance to try it out and he can't believe how real the visuals are. This VR head gear takes him places that are otherwise unimaginable.

But something goes wrong just as the simulation is finishing and Peter becomes stuck in the VR world. He knows he's stuck. He knows that somehow his consciousness is still moving about in a VR world, but the world he's in now is exactly like the real world ... except that he has no daughters. He might otherwise believe in this world or even be happy to work within it, but giving up his two precious loved ones is more than he can bear. But he's a video game developer ... he should be able to program an exit.

In general, I liked author Ron Walters' writing. There was a lot of energy to the story and the characters which made this an easy read.

The story, however, of someone stuck inside a VR video game already seems over-used in today's market. It seemed pretty novel when I watched Tron back in 1982, but not so much since. Still, I honestly believe it's hard to find a story or concept that is really and truly completely new and not a take on an old story (though I am amazed when I find something that really strikes me as novel), so we need something fresh and unique to make an old story worth reading again. I didn't find that 'newness' here.

What bothered me more, though, was the very 'one note' status of our protagonist. Yes, the loss of two daughters would absolutely be devastating, but he didn't lose them in the sense that they died ... they just never existed in this VR world. Still, yes, a major loss, but he focuses ... obsesses on this ... throughout the book, as though if he can convince someone finally that he really does have two teenage daughters then he can find his way out of the VR world. I got a little tired of this, which is too bad, because, as I note, I actually liked the writing style.

Ultimately this doesn't really hold up and make this recommend-worthy.

Looking for a good book? Author Ron Walters takes on a fairly common theme of being stuck inside a VR video game in the book Deep Dive. The writing is strong but the plotting and character-building hold the book back.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun techno-thriller that keeps it cards close to the vest until close to the end. The author does a good job of keeping the tension tight until the unravelling. Some of the characters were a little thin, but otherwise a good romp.

interesting, but plot felt all over the place at times.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

Now THIS is great SciFi! Give me more stories about game devs and VR. This has a Ready Player One vibe to it but I thought it's actually a better book. Lots of neat twists and turns, fast paced, really fun. I thought the ending could have been a bit tighter, but no matter, I still had a blast reading this.

Book Review

Title: Deep Dive by Ron Walters

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I have a love/hate relationship with sci-fi thrillers and this is mainly due to the sci-fi element not suiting my tastes but Deep Dive blew me away with its VR and immersive technology elements that really enhanced the thriller elements of the novel. Deep Dive is an intensely emotional novel that had me hooked from the very beginning. We are introduced to Peter Banuk who has been failing to get his career in the gaming industry to really take off and he is failing to balance this with his family life. His last project, Scorchfell was a failure and he wants and needs a success more than anything right now. His friend ends up calling him to announce that he has cracked the secret to a full immersion game and Peter rushes over to check it out and this is where the novel really kicks off.

When we think about it, VR exists in our reality and something like full immersion is something that might be in our future and it would change the face of our world. I have read a few novels with the premise and many of you probably have as well but don’t write off Deep Dive give it a chance because it will surprise you. Peter ends up trying out the headset and it is amazing but pretty soon something goes horribly wrong, and when doesn’t it in novels like these. When Peter wakes up he is in his truck but something feels really off to him and he discovers that his life looks very different to how he remembered it and he is desperately trying to make sense of it all. He theorizes that there are two possibilities; one is that he is stuck inside the simulation or he’s gone crazy and either one is viable right now, except that there is a third possibility that I am not going to discuss. I honestly believe for this novel the less you know about it the better as I went in blind and adored it. Peter narrates the novel as he tries to navigate this new world and unexpected revelation and Peter’s emotional reactions to them are extremely important to pay attention to as you are reading. One thing Walters does well is making you care about the character’s and their families with some intense and brilliant storytelling that had me hanging onto the edge of my seat for the majority of the novel.

Walter’s direct writing style made the novel very accessible to people new to the sci-fi genre and also hardcore fans of the genre. Overall, I found the novel to be an emotional and memorable experience that I won’t be forgetting any time soon especially since we realise that Peter is a husband and father willing to do anything to protect the people he loves. However, the novel did feel a little rushed towards the end and was very tropey in places. The ending also didn’t blow me away like the rest of the novel had. I did have a great time reading the novel and was satisfied after I finished it but it wasn’t a five star, amazing read for me. I would highly recommend this book to fans of sci-fi and thrillers novels that centre around family and family ties and for people that like sci-fi with a hard technology element that explores themes and ideas that could be appearing in our reality in the near future.

Very much enjoyed this Sci-fi/VR thriller. Every time I thought I'd got some kind of idea of what was happening I found I was wrong. The ending was maybe a little baffling but the story itself was top notch
Highly Recommended

Peter tests a new VR headset and gets lost in the illusion, waking up in a universe that he doesn't recognize. Except, which reality is the illusion??? This is an enjoyable quick read, for when you are stuck somewhere and need something light. Rife with cultural refs, Ron Walters gives us a gamer take on the metaverse that harks back to the film Inception.

If you had the chance to start over again from an early age and know what you do now, would you take it? A chance to live your life again; buy those shares in Apple, know some of the exam questions and football results? The answer for me is no. 80 years more life is not worth risking my family. What is you do not meet your partner again. What is you do not have the same kids. The idea of my children not existing is as horrific to me as it is for Peter Banuk in Ron Walters’ gripping Deep Dive. Can be get back to his family?

Peter Banuk is a computer game designer who works too hard and does not spend enough time with his family. He loves them, but cannot see his latest game fail, or they will all be in financial trouble. When he is offered a glimpse into the future of gaming, he takes it in the form of the immersive Deep Dive. Once inside Peter feels like he is within one of his games, but when he leaves, his world is not the same. His wife still exists, but the children have never been born. What can Peter do to get back to them?

It helps when a book speaks directly to you and Deep Dive will speak to me louder than most. A father of two girls who works on computers. Is that Peter or me? I have the added advantage of knowing what it is to love two young children and I can easily imagine that I would go as far as Peter does to get them back. Deep Dive may feel like science fiction on the outside, but there is nothing more horror filled for a family-oriented person, than the thought of losing your children.

Walters does a superb job of painting the Banuk family. They are not perfect but have all the issues that make them feel real. The fact that Peter knows he is not the perfect Father makes the story even more poignant later, when he thinks they may be gone. His motivation is one of desperation and that informs his actions. A lot of what happens in the book is not rational, but that is what leads to the twists and the action.

As a character study, Deep Dive is excellent, but it also has a great genre premise. There is a reason that Peter enters virtual reality but exits into another reality. Peter does not know what is going on and we the reader must discover alongside him. Peter’s early actions of firing off emails asking for help only becomes a problem when we discover the shadowy elements in the book. A fish out of water story soon evolves into an action thriller.

Too often in genre fiction explanations as to why things happen hang in the air, but there is a nice explanation towards the end of the book. One twist left me wondering exactly what type of man Peter is and revaluate what went before. Is he to blame for his own situation?

Deep Dive works as a thriller because the heart of the book runs so true. This is the case for me, but any reader with a sense of compassion. You can understand some of the desperate actions that Peter undertakes, you may do something similar yourself if you found an obstacle in the way of getting to your family. The book also works as a great piece of science fiction. It has a short length that make it punchy and thrilling, with the added impact of a family in peril.

Deep Dive is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that follows Peter Banuk, a game developer trying to save his company from bankruptcy after Scorchfell, a previous project flopped. So his priorities are a bit skewed, it's work > family and he justifies it by saying he's doing it for his family (which is true). It shouldn't be a surprise when Peter is going to work on his daughter’s birthday to beta test a virtual reality headset.

He tries the headset, awesome! He finds himself in the world of Scorchfell, the video game that flopped. Then something went wrong, he woke up in his truck with no memory of how he got there, and when he came home, Alana says that they never had children and Scorchfell is a huge success. Peter questions his sanity and his memories or is something else going on?

What I like:
- immersive writing style
- well-paced, character-driven, awesome world-building, filled with surprises
- I love how we get so many details on Peter's life which made him realistic and easy to care for.
- it explores the dangers of virtual reality, the difficulty of keeping work/life balance, family

What I did not like:
- the ending felt a little rushed and Peter's predicament was solved easily for my taste.

Overall, Deep Dive is awesome, action-packed, and an unputdownable read! It's one of those books where you say "just one more chapter' then suddenly, you're done with the whole book 😆. If you love Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, you're gonna enjoy this.

Thank you so much Angry Robot Books and Netgalley for the DRC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

My first net galley review! Thank you #netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I expected Deep Dive to give me Ready Player One vibes after reading the description. The book got off to a running start, establishing the main character Peter's relationships with his wife children and how his attention was divided between his love for them and the drive to prove himself after a major failure in his gaming development job. One tilt too far in his choices propels him off the virtual ledge.

The rest of the story reads more like a less grim (but also less developed) Dark Matter. I was hoping for Peter to change and grow more as a character and many conversations felt bogged down by constant finger-pointing and miscommunication. These disappointments made this book a "just average" read for me but if you're into mind-tripping page turners with some unexpected twists you might want to take a chance on Ron Walter's Deep Dive!

4.25-Gamer, time travel and virtual or distorted reality books are among my favorite types of books to read and this book did not disappoint. Peter Banuk is a game developer whose last game Scorchfell flopped, so in developing his next game he’s putting in a LOT of hours, which in turn causes him to lose lots of family time with his wife and 2 daughters that he adores. When the concept of an added element of virtual reality comes up, he goes to his friends lab to give it a try. All seems so great when he is trying it out. No haptic controls needed and he can actually feel, sense and taste everything and all is great…until it isn’t. After that scene, this book had me turning the pages to find out what was going on and why can’t he remember anything and most of all, where are his daughters that no one seems to remember, including his wife.

This book is for lovers of Blake Crouch (Dark Matter; Recursion). This one was twisty and techy.

Video Game developer Peter Banuk is struggling with work/life balance as he tries to build his business back up from its latest failure. When his business partner suddenly makes a breakthrough in their VR technology and offers to let Peter do a trial run, he jumps at the chance despite it being his daughter’s birthday. When something unexpected happens during the trial Peter finds himself a long way from home - in a whole new reality where his daughters don’t exist and his life is vastly different. He has to fight to access his own memories and re-establish his own reality.

This was fast-paced and adventurous! It wasn’t quite as mind-bending as some thrillers are, but I found that that made the story more accessible. There was enough mystery to keep you guessing and reading, and there was just enough sci-fi/fantasy world-building so that anything could happen. I definitely recommend this to lovers of speculative fiction and mystery, or those who have wanted to try out the genre with a good entry point novel.

[4.5 stars rounded up]

The nitty-gritty: Deep Dive is a fast-paced, science fiction thrill ride with an engaging mystery and some interesting twists.

Deep Dive was such a thrilling read, and I could not tear my eyes away from the page. Ron Walters’ story is a twisty, mind-bending sci-fi thriller that keeps the reader guessing. It evokes both The Matrix and Total Recall at times, so if you’re a fan of either of those movies, you’ll probably love this.

Peter Banuk is a video game developer who works for a company called Omega Studios. He’s an obsessive workaholic who spends a lot of time at the office, much to the chagrin of his wife Alana and their two children, Evie and Cassie. When the story opens, Peter’s best friend Bradley has just invited him to beta test the highly secret hardware he’s been working on, a virtual reality headset called Deep Dive, which Bradley claims will be the first ever fully immersive VR experience. If it’s successful, Bradley wants to partner with Peter and market the headset, a deal that will put Omega Studios back on the map. Although it’s Evie’s birthday and he’s promised her a special birthday dinner, Peter can’t resist the temptation of testing out Deep Dive for himself, but he promises Evie he’ll be back soon to celebrate.

When he arrives at the Boundless offices, Bradley’s company, Peter isn’t prepared for just how amazing Deep Dive really is. He finds himself in the world of Scorchfell, the video game he developed, the one that flopped spectacularly when it was released. But before he can emerge from the simulation, Peter opens a door and steps through—and enters a nightmare. He wakes up in his truck with no memory of how he got there, and when he goes home to his family, Alana claims that they don’t have children—and never have. Other things are different too. Bradley is dead, and Scorchfell is a huge success. Is Peter going crazy? Has he lost his memories? Or is something more nefarious going on? Peter swears with every fiber of his being that Evie and Cassie exist, but no one believes him. All Peter wants to do is to get back home to his real family, but it’s not going to be easy.

Deep Dive was an absolute blast of a reading experience. The story is narrated by Peter, and we follow his first person point of view as he navigates the unfamiliar world he’s been thrust into. I thought this was a good choice because the reader is just as much in the dark as Peter is, which creates some intriguing mysteries.  The author draws out those mysteries for quite a while, although some readers may guess what’s going on. I had some ideas myself, but the story played out in unexpected ways, so I ended up being surprised at some of the interesting twists. The action is fast-paced and relentless, full of conspiracies, secrets, and danger, and there isn’t a dull moment in the entire story.

Ron Walters is clearly a big video game fan, and I loved the immersive experience of reading about a VR world that changes into something more sinister. I’m not a gamer myself, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying video game-centric stories, and I’m fascinated by virtual reality and the idea of sinking into different worlds. I also loved the real world elements of running a video game company, the competition involved, and the high stakes business of releasing a new game into an already flooded market.

But my favorite parts of the story, not surprisingly, center around Peter’s love of his family and his emotional state when faced with the fact that his beloved children might not be real after all. Walters deftly captures Peter’s raw emotions, and I’ll admit some scenes were very hard to read (and will be for other parents as well). Peter has to come to terms with what's most important in his life—being successful in his career, or being a good father and husband. Part of what makes this story so successful is Peter’s mental state and his reactions to the strange world he finds himself in. When everyone around you is calling you crazy, what do you do? I thought Walters handled it brilliantly.

The only thing preventing me from rating this higher is that I felt the last twenty percent or so was a little rushed. A lot happens in the second half of the story, and I wouldn’t have minded more pages to stretch out those final scenes and give them more time to develop. But despite this small complaint, Walters hits just the right emotional notes at the end and wraps up his story perfectly.

I can hardly wait to read Ron Walters’ next book, especially if it’s as fun and thrilling as Deep Dive.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Rated 3.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Angry Robot for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

CLASSIC WITH A TWIST

When I requested Deep Dive, I thought I knew, more or less, what I was getting into...I was expecting a Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle scenario (minus the random avatars - and the jungle, of course 😉) and a classic quest story, if with a prominent family angle...but the combo of virtual reality + alternate one was too alluring for me to resist. Now, without spoiling the book, what I can tell you is that the story is far more creative than I expected (and much wilder - but more about that below). VR does play a big role in the plot (duh), but not exactly in the way you might think. And while there's something familiar in Walters' version of the cyberspace - at least for those of us who consume VR-related media - he sure put his own spin on it. I loved the broader scope of the virtual scenario and its inner workings, and I was a little bummed that we didn't get more of that (mind you, rightfully so, since 1) it's not what the story is about, and 2) it's part of a late reveal), because it was really cool. 10/10 would read another book set in the same universe.

THRILL MODE

Going into Deep Dive, I didn't expect it to be a thriller as much as a sci-fi novel. Which will appeal to a lot of people, so it's not a bad thing per se, but it's not my favourite type of story, so I didn't particularly vibe with that side of the plot (and I still think that a certain secret meeting early on was a bit overplayed, or at least the deceptive way in which it started - and went on for a while - was). Also, while I can suspend my disbelief like a champion, the VR here hinges on a concept that's definitely far-fetched - though on the other hand, it makes for an exciting adventure and I don't regret going along with it one bit 🙂.

FAMILY MATTERS

As for the family and redemption arcs, I liked what Walters did with them, with some small reservations. The protagonist's daughters in particular come alive in multiple ways, both in Peter's supposed memories and his alternate reality, and the love he has for them and his faith in their existence are palpable and heart-warming/wrenching. I will admit that the domestic dynamic as a whole - workaholic husband and father with a forgiving family and a guilt complex that won't prevent him from putting his job first - is a bit "been there, seen that". All in all, though, what some aspects of the story lacked in originality, the other ones more than made up for. Packed with action, fueled by feelings, peppered with humour and with a strong (if wild) speculative core, Ron Walters' debut book has something in it for everyone.

4.5/5 stars

Deep Dive by Ron Walters is a character driven, fast paced sci-fi thriller that explores virtual reality and true immersion as its central concept.

The book follows the story of Peter Banuk, a video game developer, husband and father of two daughters, who’s trying to succeed in his new VR videogame project Starflung and hence keep his company Omega Studios afloat after his previous project failed. His priorities at the moment are in the same order as above, the project followed by the family. He convinces himself that he’s doing it for them; doing it so he could show them that their father could be successful and of course so that he does well financially. But that’s no reason for being an absentee father and he knows it and it low-key guilts him. So, when he’s called in to beta-test a new state-of-the-art virtual reality headset on his daughter’s birthday, he goes in with the same guilt. Much to our dismay, something goes wrong in the beta-testing and he wakes up to realize that he’s in an eerily familiar world where his children no longer exist. What happens from there on is a tense, well paced, character driven tale with high stakes and higher rewards.

I love it when science fiction books are character driven. And it’s a treat if there’s a well established internal or emotional conflict on top of a strong character and Deep Dive delivers it. The story is set in first person narrative and Peter’s voice is quick to reel us in. The other characters, Peter’s wife, children, friends and associates are all three dimensional and nice from his lens and support the story well. The prose is on point and dialogues are well done. Peter’s interactions with his friends and colleagues are off the bat fun and delightful to read, keeping the story in its bubble and moving it forward.

I also liked how some of the dialogues came close to breaking the fourth wall, be it a character referencing the sci-fi concept to a movie, or talking of the plot as a mix up between movies and such. In context, it came close to a self-aware, self-deprecating analysis of the book in itself and it was nice.

There were quite a few gaming references which were wasted on me (alas, a non-gamer), but I was able to appreciate them contextually. I also suspect that there were nods given to other sci-fi authors and their work as well, especially Blake Crouch?, but it’s just a suspicion (which I wish were true, since I love Blake Crouch’s work) and let me leave it at that. I don’t want to start or spread random rumors.

One point that acted as both the pro and con for the story is how much Peter thought, felt and acted as a father. In the first 60-65% of the story, through Peter’s internal monologues and thoughts, we clearly see how much he defines himself on the basis of his parenthood. Cut to next 15-20%, the narrative attention wavers between all the action slash showdown and the emotional tension the book steadily wove through the first half and more. Peter hovers dangerously close to acting out of character? This is not to say that it was jarringly apparent, but just something that I felt as a reader. Of course, the book ended on an emotionally satisfying note (last 15%) and all that ends well is well, but if I have to say a con, this would be it.

Overall, Ron Walters is definitely an author I plan to follow going forward and I recommend reading Deep Dive to any of you who like a well paced, character driven sci-fi novel with solid prose, good banter and fun moments!

My favorite way to go into some books is blind. I did not read much about the story except a quick skim of the synopsis, picking out keys words instead of an idea of the story. I did know that this would be good because Deep Dive is being published by Angry Robot and their quality of books has been elite.

I started the first few pages of the novel and I was hooked. Peter Banuk is trying to save his video game development company from bankruptcy because their last project bombed. His balance between home and work life does not exist, and before he knows it, Peter is going to work on his daughter’s birthday to test an experimental virtual reality headset. The next thing he knows, Peter is waking up in the middle of the night in his truck to a life that does not look familiar at all. The rest of the novel is him trying to figure out what has happened and how he was going to return to his family, while many people are trying to stop him from talking, by any means necessary. While he tries to navigate his new reality, he is also trying to figure out how to get back home to his wife and children. This road is filled with danger, secrets, and things he just does not remember, and the peril that he faces keeps the novel moving at a incredibly high speed.

There are many underrated subgenres of horror, some of them not even considered horror at all. Many might not think of Deep Dive as a horror novel, but there is nothing more frightening than the predicament Peter Banuk finds himself in. Technological horror, waking up from an experiment in a life that is not familiar, without any knowledge of why or how you got there, is a very scary proposition to me. The more advanced technology gets, the more likely it is that one of the pieces will malfunction to disastrous results. Even though many people will not think of this first as a horror novel, this fits in with some of the greatest technological horror stories of all time. I think about The Fly with Jeff Goldblum, Videodrome, and Possessor as films that line up with this subgenre of horror. Needless to say, I get sucked into these stories quickly because they all feel like they could happen in the near near future.

I see Deep Dive as a great sci-fi novel but also a great horror novel. I only thought I was going to read the first few pages that first day, but ended up reading half of it. I read the other half the second day, and I have been trying to get everyone I know to pre-order copies for themselves. This is definitely a novel that can be used as an example of a good technological thriller, but also good technological horror. This makes this story unique and exciting. I could not put it down until the end.

I received this ARC from Angry Robot and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re going to cover the same creative ground well-trodden by Blake Crouch in his exceptional novel Dark Matter, you better bring something new to the table, be it a fresh take on the same premise or, preferably, some sort of twist that subverts the reader’s expectations and turns the conceit on its ears. Unfortunately, Deep Dive does neither. Although the “device” that pompts Peter Banuk’s journey is different from a technological - frankly, more implausible - standpoint, it’s not enough to separate this book as a less interesting version of a very similar story. The set-up is interesting, the tale of a man who finds himself in an alternate reality, losing his daughters in the process, but there’s little emotional depth to our protagonist beyond his obvious despair over the loss of his girls. He’s a hard hero to care for, and “hero” is generous given that the major steps in solving his mysterious predicament come about mostly through the actions of outside forces. He is kidnapped, kidnapped again, and fed sporadic insights until a large chunk of the mystery is revealed when he suddenly, and fortuitously, recovers a chunk of missing memory in the nick of time. Overall, I feel like I’ve read it all before - but better.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and kept the pages turning, easily. Although Peter was a bit slow on realizing what was actually happening to him, it didn't drag out too long. The relationships between Peter and his family are heartwarming and his emotions and turmoil were easy to identify with.